Holiday Specials, Year-End Shows

November 28, 1999

Televisionland heads into December with holiday shows and some that herald the end of the year and century.

On Wednesday, NBC kicks off the month with "Christmas in Rockefeller Center" at 8, with hosts Matt Lauer and Brandy, plus Britney Spears, 'N Sync, Enrique Iglesias, Rosemary Clooney, Scott Hamilton, cast of the stage's "Saturday Night Fever" and the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes. That's followed by "Garth Brooks & the Magic of Christmas" at 9, with Tony Bennett, Natalie Cole, Trisha Yearwood and a 32-piece big band playing Christmas tunes.

CBS offers the old, beloved chestnuts "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (Wednesday at 8), "The Year Without a Santa Claus" (Thursday at 8) and "A Charlie Brown Christmas" (Friday at 8). Two new treats air Friday: at 8:30, "Snowden's Christmas," featuring foam latex puppets and the voices of Peter MacNicol, Kathy Najimy, Edward Asner and Michael McKean; and at 9, "The Nuttiest Nutcracker," with Phyllis Diller as the Sugar Plum Fairy, James Belushi as the Evil Mouse King and Cheech Marin as Mac, the macadamia nut. On Saturday at 8, Amy Grant's holiday music special features Tony Bennett, Cece Winans and 98 Degrees.

And Thursday, some of the century's top athletes -- including Muhammad Ali -- will be honored at "Sports Illustrated's 20th Century Sports Awards."

10 MOST FASCINATING PEOPLE

Tuesday at 10 on ABC

Barbara Walters's seventh year-end special will include interviews with Latino singer Ricky Martin; Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura; "All My Children's" Susan Lucci; Viacom owner Sumner Redstone; King Abdullah of Jordan; Joe Torre, manager of the New York Yankees, as well as Monica Lewinsky, the former White House intern. This will be Lewinsky's first television interview since the one she did with Walters last February. The individual Walters decrees to be the Most Fascinating Person of 1999 will be announced on the show.

DOO WOP 50

Wednesday at 8 on MPT,

Saturday at 7:30 on WETA

More than 100 original performers of doo wop -- vocal-group harmony popular during the late 1950s and 1960s -- reunite in a special that stretches more than three hours, including station pledge pitches. The show is hosted by singer-songwriter Jerry "The Iceman" Butler, who began his career during that era, served as chairman of the Rhythm & Blues Foundation and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. He is a commissioner for Cook County, Ill.

SPORTS ILLUSTRATED'S 20TH CENTURY SPORTS AWARDS

Thursday at 9 on CBS

Bryant Gumbel hosts the two-hour show from New York City's Madison Square Garden honoring the greatest athletes of the century and featuring music by Garth Brooks and Paul Simon.